All posts by Justin Levitt

Rhode Island voter ID followup

May 23, 2012, 2:38 pmlegislation and legislatures, voter idJustin Levitt

Rick links to an excellent Providence Phoenix article on the Rhode Island voter ID law. It’s a great in-depth look at the political calculus. But the lede poses a question — “how is it that one of the bluest states… Continue reading

Before 2012 lines are done, Texas re-considering re-redrawing 2014 district lines

January 24, 2012, 1:20 pmredistrictingJustin Levitt

Uh-oh. As Michael McDonald and I have discussed, Texas is hardly the only state where re-redrawing lines may be on the menu.

Texas: standards for the San Antonio court

January 22, 2012, 9:49 pmredistricting, Supreme CourtJustin Levitt

As Rick noted in the flurry of posts following Friday’s Supreme Court redistricting decision, the San Antonio three-judge court must now put pen back to paper to come up with three new interim 2012 maps. And it’s been instructed to… Continue reading

Laches and election-law: “Piling on” edition

January 15, 2012, 12:46 pmabsentee ballots, ballot access, election administration, military voting, primaries, RemediesJustin Levitt

In this post, Rick pointed out one substantial downside of last-minute election claims. I made a similar point in this Article, in the context of litigation challenging election-day burdens like lines at the polls (and citing the discussion… Continue reading

New report of potential “dead voters” in South Carolina … and it’s not even Halloween

January 12, 2012, 3:46 pmelection administration, The Voting Wars, voter idJustin Levitt

In the wake of James O’Keefe’s latest videos about fictitious “dead voters,” now comes a new investigation in South Carolina, looking for “actual” “dead voters.” In reviewing the state’s motor vehicle records and its voting rolls, there is apparently evidence… Continue reading

Ten Lawyers Leaping: A New Year’s Redistricting Review

January 3, 2012, 3:01 pmredistrictingJustin Levitt

(Cross-posted from the Huffington Post) The 2011 holiday season brought plenty of election-related tidings, of comfort and joy to some and consternation to others. Now, in the first days of 2012, in between hitting “refresh” on Iowa caucus coverage,… Continue reading

MD Redistricting Case Approves Districts, Adjustment for Incarcerated Population

December 23, 2011, 5:03 pmredistrictingJustin Levitt

And the pre-Christmas news keeps coming. (h/t Howard Gorrell) A three-judge federal court just granted summary judgment, upholding the Maryland congressional districts against one challenge (there’s an additional challenge in federal court, and two others in state court; more… Continue reading

Texas court denies privilege for congressional redistricting conversations

August 12, 2011, 10:23 amredistricting, Speech or Debate ClauseJustin Levitt

Yesterday, the federal court handling most of the mammoth Texas redistricting litigation denied a motion by members of Congress to prevent disclosure of their conversations to the Texas legislators conducting redistricting. Michael Li, who’s been following all of the back… Continue reading

2002: “501(c)(4) entities may be vehicles for political spending”

July 28, 2011, 9:46 amcampaign finance, tax law and election lawJustin Levitt

In this post, I mentioned a prescient letter to the IRS from Greg Colvin and Rosemary Fei, asking for clarification on a host of (c)(4) issues. From the intro, written August 30, 2002: “Considering that a number of existing… Continue reading

“NC redistricting maps approved quickly by panels”

July 23, 2011, 12:32 amredistrictingJustin Levitt

Looks like North Carolina’s redistricting maps are moving quickly as well.

“Dems: Riley violated new campaign finance law”

July 23, 2011, 12:25 amcampaign financeJustin Levitt

Allegations of a violation on a new Alabama law banning PAC-to-PAC transfers. This is, I believe, the same law that the Alabama Speaker of the House and the Alabama Senate President called “a critical component of a series of … Continue reading

“Campaigning from the White House”

July 22, 2011, 11:44 amUncategorizedJustin Levitt

Politico explains a tricky Hatch Act balance. The Office of Special Counsel’s background page breaks down permissible and impermissible, here.

Intriguing judicial candidate strategy

July 22, 2011, 11:29 amjudicial electionsJustin Levitt

h/t to Rob Richie for this article, discussing changes to Illinois law that will limit candidates’ abilities to file for multiple offices, to gauge their best chance of success. Also of note, the article discusses the environment for judicial… Continue reading